Genesis 42:22
in Genesis 42And Reuben responded, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen. Now we must account for his blood!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore also, behold, his blood is required.
KJV
And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.
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This verse in Genesis 42
Commentary
7 notes on this verseNote, (1.) It is an aggravation of any sin that it was committed against admonitions. (2.) When we come to share with others in their calamities, it will be a comfort to us if we have the testimony of our consciences for us that we did not share with them in their iniquities, but, in our places, witnessed against them.
This site's exposition
Surely we are being punished because of our brother
on Genesis 42:21-22
In front of him they name the thing at last, that they are being punished for their brother. Reuben tells them they must now account for his blood. Genesis first made a brother answer for blood in chapter 4, where Abel's blood cried out from the ground.
This site's exposition
Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy?
Reuben goes back to 37:21 and 37:22, where he talked the others out of killing Joseph and planned to return him to his father. He was away when the sale was made at 37:29. The demand for his blood uses the verb God used in 9:5 for requiring a life.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And Reuben answered them,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
put them . . . into ward three days--Their confinement had been designed to bring them to salutary reflection. And this object was attained, for they looked upon the retributive justice of God as now pursuing them in that foreign land. The drift of their conversation is one of the most striking instances on record of the power of conscience [Ge 42:21, 22].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
THUS Reuben reminded his brothers of his admonition concerning Joseph—thus would I address you with regard to your own children. I thought it meet, beloved Friends, as our friend, Mr. Hammond, is coming among us to labor for the conversion of the young, that I should, as it were, this morning deliver the preface to his series of services. Perhaps by enlisting the consideration and the affectionate prayers of God's people for the young, I may be doing more to help my friend in his work than it would be possible for me to do by any other means. Note the words of the text. "Spoke I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child?" The essence of sin lies in its being committed against God. When men are fully convinced that they have disobeyed the Lord, and that this is "the head and front of their offending," then they are brought to a true perception of the character of sin. Hence David's penitential Psalm has for its acutest cry, "Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight." Yet the sword of sin cuts both ways—it not only contends against God but against His creatures, too. It is a double evil. Like a bursting shell, it scatters evil on every side. Every relationship which we sustain involves duty, and consequently may be perverted into an occasion for sin. We are no sooner in this world than, as children, we sin against our parents. As members of a family we sin against brothers and sisters, and against playmates and acquaintances. We launch into the outside world, and around our ship sins dash like raging billows. As our various relations are multiplied, our sins also increase. We sin against a husband or against a wife, against a servant or against a master, against a buyer or a seller. On all sides the roots of our soul suck up sin from the earth in which they spread. We sin in public and sin in private.
THUS Reuben reminded his brothers of his admonition concerning Joseph—thus would I address you with regard to your own children. I thought it meet, beloved Friends, as our friend, Mr. Hammond, is coming among us to labor for the conversion of the young, that I should, as it were, this morning deliver the preface to his series of services. Perhaps by enlisting the consideration and the affectionate prayers of God's people for the young, I may be doing more to help my friend in his work than it would be possible for me to do by any other means.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּעַן֩ | vaiyaan | and he answered | H6030 → | 331 times |
| רְאוּבֵ֨ן | reuven | Reuben | H7205 → | 72 times |
| אֹתָ֜ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לֵאמֹ֗ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הֲלוֹא֩ | halo' | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אָמַ֨רְתִּי | ʾamarti | did I say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵיכֶ֧ם׀ | ʾaleikhem | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| לֵאמֹ֛ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תֶּחֶטְא֥וּ | techetu | you sin | H2398 → | 238 times |
| בַיֶּ֖לֶד | vaiyeled | against the boy | H3206 → | 89 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שְׁמַעְתֶּ֑ם | shema'tem | you listened | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| וְגַם־ | vegam- | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| דָּמ֖וֹ | damo | blood his | H1818 → | 360 times |
| הִנֵּ֥ה | hineh | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| נִדְרָֽשׁ׃ | nidrash | [is] being required | H1875 → | 164 times |
וַיַּעַן֩and he answered
vaiyaanH6030 →331 times
רְאוּבֵ֨ןReuben
reuvenH7205 →72 times
אֹתָ֜ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
לֵאמֹ֗ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
הֲלוֹא֩¿ not
halo'H3808 →5168 times
אָמַ֨רְתִּיdid I say
ʾamartiH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵיכֶ֧ם׀to you
ʾaleikhemH413 →5510 times
לֵאמֹ֛ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תֶּחֶטְא֥וּyou sin
techetuH2398 →238 times
בַיֶּ֖לֶדagainst the boy
vaiyeledH3206 →89 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
שְׁמַעְתֶּ֑םyou listened
shema'temH8085 →1159 times
וְגַם־and also
vegam-H1571 →769 times
דָּמ֖וֹblood his
damoH1818 →360 times
הִנֵּ֥הhere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
נִדְרָֽשׁ׃[is] being required
nidrashH1875 →164 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Chronicles 24:22Thus King Joash failed to remember the kindness that Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had extended to him. Instead, Joash killed Jehoiada’s son. As he lay dying, Zechariah said, “May the LORD see this and call…
it leads to
- Genesis 9:5
And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man:
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 11:51
from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, all of it will be charged to this generation.
- Revelation 6:9–11
And when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony they had upheld.
- Genesis 9:5
Through
Psalms 9:12For the Avenger of bloodshed remembers; He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.
it leads to
- Psalms 34:6
This poor man called out, and the LORD heard him; He saved him from all his troubles.
- Exodus 3:7
The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.
- Revelation 16:6
For they have spilled the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink, as they deserve.”
- Revelation 6:9–10
And when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony they had upheld.
- Psalms 34:6
Through
1 Kings 2:32The LORD will bring his bloodshed back upon his own head, for without the knowledge of my father David he struck down two men more righteous and better than he when he put to…
it leads to
- Judges 9:24
in order that the crime against the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come to justice and their blood be avenged on their brother Abimelech and on the leaders of Shechem, who had helped him…
- Judges 9:24
Where this verse is studied
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 840: “Do Not Sin Against the Child” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.